California legislators scrambled this week to distance themselves from allegations of bribery and corruption against Democratic Sen. Ron Calderon after details of a federal probe of his activities aired on a television network.

The Capitol was roiling over comments attributed to Calderon, D-Montebello (Los Angeles County), in a report by the Al Jazeera cable network, based on what it identified as a sealed FBI affidavit, that he had enlisted other lawmakers to help him influence policy. In exchange, the affidavit alleges, the senator accepted $88,000.

On Thursday, the FBI said it has asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the leak of the sealed document.

The allegations could have an impact on next year's elections - even the Democrats' two-thirds legislative majority, said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State.

"Depending upon the extent that the investigation leads to charges against Calderon and others, the Democrats in the Legislature could find themselves with a serious PR issue," Gerston said.

The closer the investigation gets to the 2014 elections, "the more Democrats may need to worry and the more Republicans may have an election issue" to run on, he said.

Calderon has not been charged with any crime, and his attorney has denied any wrongdoing by his client.

According to the affidavit, posted on Al Jazeera's website, Calderon allegedly accepted $60,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent posing as a movie executive and $28,000 more from a medical company owner in exchange for efforts to affect legislation on tax credits for the film industry and on workers' compensation claims.

Steinberg said reading the affidavit made him "sick to my stomach." He announced that he has removed Calderon from the California Film Commission for "the appearance of impropriety" and will consider taking away other committee assignments in the coming days.

"Nothing is more sacred to us as senators than the public's trust in the integrity of this institution," Steinberg said in a statement Thursday. "That's why it is so shocking and disturbing for us to read and hear the allegations presented in these media reports over the last 24 hours."

Undercover agent

Calderon also told the undercover agent that he gave Steinberg two VIP tickets to a San Francisco Giants baseball game as part of his effort to get the leader to support a change in the film tax credit program, according to the affidavit. Calderon told the agent that he believed Steinberg supported the change.

Steinberg said he never supported the change, which was not included in any legislation. As for the baseball tickets, Steinberg said they were valued at $37.50 each and were properly reported to a state agency as a gift.

The tax break proposal was a key focus of the affidavit. Lieu said Calderon approached him about supporting a break for small film productions, and he agreed to include that in a letter to Steinberg that he co-signed with Calderon.

"I didn't know what a small production tax credit was until he came to me," Lieu said, adding that the letter contained other proposals he wanted that had nothing to do with film tax credits.

Lieu told the Los Angeles Times that he has been interviewed by federal investigators, but said he was assured that he is not the target.